The Unofficial Blogger of the Chicago Cubs in Canada

Cubs Trying To Get Losing Streak Done Early

The Chicago Cubs are in the midst of a losing streak as they dropped their fourth straight yesterday 6-3 in the series opener to the Brewers. The good news is that last year, the Cubs longest losing streak was five games. That didn’t occur until July, so if baseball is a superstitious game and, well, you know the Cubs are no stranger to superstition and freaky things, then this could be a good sign to get it out of the way early.

“I don’t remember what our record was at the beginning of last year. People are going to come here gunning for us, for sure. We’re the world champs, and people want to come here and play well. We’ll have to match that intensity and play better.” said John Lackey.

While Kyle Schwarber lays down some pretty impressive bunting skills, it’s good to see that Joe Maddon’s creativity is still intact. It was the first bunt that Schwarber hit in the majors.

“The situation dictated it right there,” Schwarber said. “We’re down two runs and I needed to get on base. If it’s wide open in that spot, I’m going to take it.”

What’s pretty unique about the situation the Cubs are finding themselves in is that once upon a time, fans didn’t expect much from the North Siders but now that there’s a World Championship under their belts, well that’s different. The Cubs are playing .500 ball and although players are trying to keep their heads about it, I can’t help but sense an undercurrent shifting and a little bit of worrying.

“It happened to us last year right before the All-Star break,” Schwarber said. “We hit the skids. Hopefully, maybe we’re hitting it early. We’re super-early in the season still. Like I said, no panic.”

It’s the back end of the game where the Cubs find themselves struggling. Closing out games and their bullpen needs to get caught up with the rest of the team. Here’s the thing though, Wade Davis and Kojii Uehara are new additions to the squad that last year featured Aroldis Chapman after the All Star break. So, like it or not the Cubs are a much different team than last season.

On an up note, three former Cubs received their rings yesterday. Travis Wood, Jorge Soler and Jason Hammel all had a chance to bask in the limelight again and visit with their former team.

“Travis walked in, and it’s like, ‘OK, how do you feel for today?'” Maddon said. “It’s just very, very normal. … The weird thing about that is it’s like he belongs here. It’s not even weird — there’s nothing awkward about it. That’s not normal. When a guy from another team walks in your locker room, even though he may have been with you in the past, it’s still awkward.”

Yes, the awkwardness is there but in the end, the Cubs have to find a way to move past the jewelry, pageantry and those banners out beside the scoreboards and get back to what made them great.